Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEAL) Specialist

• Contract/Project Based Role
• Flexible Hours
• Preferably based in Sydney

About the Australian Himalayan Foundation

The Australian Himalayan Foundation (AHF) was established in 2002 with its mission to improve the quality of life of the people most in need in the remote areas of the Himalaya. Working with local partner NGOs and communities is integral to AHF’s development approach which aims to:

• Improve access to education and develop quality and inclusive education programs.
• Ensure healthy lives and promote children’s well-being.
• Support Climate Change adaptation, improve environmental and wildlife conservation.
• Preserve and promote Himalayan cultural traditions.
• Safeguard vulnerable groups and promote inclusion and gender equality.
• Deepen partnerships and strengthen capacity of our development partners. 

AHF was born from a foundational commitment to ‘giving back’ to the communities that have so generously welcomed Australian and international climbers and tourists to the Himalayan region. We do this in two ways – raising funds to support development projects implemented by local partners, and lending expertise in the form of support and capacity strengthening of our local partners.

About the role: 

The MEAL Specialist will work closely with AHF Head of Programs (HP), Programs Managers and Staff, and local partners, to strengthen the monitoring and evaluation of all programs for better performance, accountability and increased learning. 

The MEAL Specialist will provide technical support, guidance and capacity strengthening to AHF Program team and partners to adequately measure impact, effectiveness, relevance and sustainability of all projects, and ensure their accountability and continuous improvement. Working closely with the Programs team, the MEAL Specialist will assist in developing and reviewing M&E frameworks and tools to ensure effective measurements of all indicators. The MEAL Specialist will verify databases and data tracking tools and mechanisms for all projects in order to maintain/improve data quality. The MEAL Specialist will assist in reviewing reports ensuring reliability and accuracy, and checking that they meet DFAT and other donors standards. 

The MEAL Specialist will also lead baseline and evaluation processes and check quality and reliability of analysis. The MEAL Specialist will assist in sharing learnings and providing recommendations for improvement of program and processes. 

It is an exciting time at the foundation as we are growing our programs portfolio and impact. As a small and high achieving team, this role requires someone who is experienced in assessing and strengthening systems, templates, processes and capacities in international programs monitoring and evaluation. This role suits someone with solid technical experience in M&E, and has a deep passion for international development and social justice. 

KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Strategy and Policies

• Support the HP in developing, managing, and evaluating AHF’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework and in providing recommendations for AHF future strategies. 
• Assist in ensuring partners and projects meet AHF contractual requirements, policies and codes, and maintain standards in accordance with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) full accreditation standards, the ACFID Code of Conduct and other best practice guidelines.
• Review AHF International Procedures Manual (IPM), programs templates, and relevant policies as they relate to projects monitoring and evaluation, and recommend improvements.
• Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
• Strengthen the monitoring and evaluation capacity of AHF Programs team and that of its partners by providing technical support and guidance.
• Review/develop monitoring and evaluation frameworks and related plans/tools for existing and new projects. 
• Liaise with the Programs team to ensure all data collection needs are met, check quality, reliability and accuracy, and suggest relevant mechanisms to meet gaps identified.
• Review databases and data tracking tools for accuracy and reliability.
• Punctually review progress, effectiveness and sustainability of activities and results.
• Review reports ensuring they meet DFAT and other donors standards.
• In close consultation with the Programs team and partners as relevant, lead baseline and evaluation processes and ensure quality of data collection and analysis. 
• Support the dissemination of learnings and their inclusion in new projects or processes.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED 

Essential Skills:

• Tertiary qualifications in monitoring, evaluation, social research, statistics or equivalent;
• At least 10 years’ experience working on donor funded programs in an M&E, organisational learning or research capacity;
• Strong knowledge of both qualitative and quantitative monitoring and evaluation methodologies and proven ability to design realistic monitoring and evaluation indicators and tools;
• Extensive experience in conducting baselines and evaluations; 
• Solid knowledge in the development and maintenance of databases;
• Advanced skills in data analysis, presentation and report writing;
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, coupled with ability to guide, advise, and train others.
• Ability to design and implement capacity strengthening activities in M&E for both stakeholders in Australia and in developing countries;
• Eye for detail.

Desirable:

• Experience working in Nepal;
• Experience managing ANCP funded programs;
• Proficiency in Google drive;
• Experience developing dashboards using data visualisation application.

This is a contract based role. We are seeking an experienced MEAL Consultant that we can set contract/ project based work as required. The hours of work can be flexible and the role can be done from home or office but some meetings will need to be attended in Sydney, Australia. The position may involve travel to the Himalayas. Salary will be commensurate with experience. 

• AHF is committed to child safeguarding and the prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation. Any offer of employment will require a Working With Children Check and endorsement of AHF’s Code of Conduct and Child Safeguarding Code of Conduct. You must have the right to live and work in Australia to apply for this role.

AHF is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to hiring the best candidate for the job regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability. 

Please email a copy of your CV along with a cover letter addressing the above criteria to Corinne Stroppolo at info@ahf.org.au at the latest by Thursday 27 July 2023.